Delivery Type	Delivery length / details
Workload Breakdown	55 hours of contact time; lectures, practicals, workshops.
Workload Breakdown	145 hours of private study, practical work and assessment.

Assessment Type	Assessment length / details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	One programming assignment (60 hours)	50%
Semester Exam	2 Hours Written Exam	50%
Supplementary Assessment	Supplementary examination will take the same form, under the terms of the Department's policy

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

analyse a block diagram of a computer and explain how it works at the level of logic gates.

analyse and develop low level programs and describe how they are executed by a CPU.

describe how a computer performs input and output operations.

explain how abstract concepts in high-level languages, such as `function call' or `local variable', are implemented in machine code.

judge the applicability of high and low level language programming.

demonstrate a good understanding of the nature of the computer language "C" including the more challenging aspects of the language.

apply the facilities of the language "C" to technically advanced problems.

describe the differences between object oriented languages (such as Java) and non-OO languages (such as C) and make appropriate choices between such languages to solve a range of realistic problems.

Content

1. Introduction

Overall introduction to the module.

2. What is a computer?

Block diagram overview; CPU, memory, I/O, Bus. Memory, Digital Logic; pigeon-hole model, address and contents, bits bytes and words.

3. Buses

Address, data and control buses. Basic data transfer.

4. Inside the CPU

Simple examples of instructions. The fetch-execute cycle and the program counter. Registers. ALU. Control unit. Implementing a machine code in hardware. Digital logic.

5. An example CPU example: Some machine codes and mnemonics

Addressing modes. Assembly code.

6. Executing high-level software

Machine-code equivalents of high-level constructs. Function calls. Stack frames and local variables.

7. I/O

Reading and writing data. Interrupts. Transferring large amounts of data; DMA, block I/O.

8. Exercises

Use a CPU simulator to watch instruction execution. Assembly language comprehension (probably, but not necessarily, by writing a program).

9. Linux at the command line

An introduction to the alternative Linux shells. Shell built-in commands and commonly used external commands and editors.

10. Shell Script programming The programming language provided by a selected Linux shell in common usage.

11. Tools of the Unix Environment

Purpose and usage of Linux environment tools such as sed, sort, uniq, awk, grep and so on.

12. Basic Concepts of "C"

History of the C language, philosophical differences between C language design and Java. Basic form of a C program compared with that of a Java program. Using the compiler.

13. Control Structures Sequence, branching and iteration in C compared with that of Java.

14. Basic Data Structures

Review of basic data types and operators in C.

15. Functions

Discussion of ways in which functions are implemented, and used in C, including parameter passing mechanisms. Input/Output.

16. Composite Data Structures

A first discussion of Arrays in C.

17. Software Support Tools

Make, Lint, Debuggers. Libraries and library utilities.

18. C Programming Style and Portability

Language standards. Portability. Programming standards.

19. Arrays, Pointers and Functions

A discussion of pointer data types, how they relate to arrays, and how they contrast with references to Java objects.

20. Dynamic Data Structures

Implementation of various record structures and dynamic structures. Pointers. Malloc. Examples in C. Parallels will be drawn with how the internals of Java do this for you.

21. Pitfalls

Major problem areas. Design rationale of C and of Java in problem areas.

22. Further Features C preprocessor, header files, conditional inclusion, macro substitution, bitwise operators, casts, enumeration, scope, static and external declarations, separate compilation.

Skills Type	Skills details
Application of Number	No
Communication	Not significant
Improving own Learning and Performance	The assessed coursework requires students to develop their understanding of issues associated with the module
Information Technology	Entire content of module
Personal Development and Career planning	No
Problem solving	The assignment addresses challenging issues concerned with designing and building C programs
Research skills	On-line web exploration and synthesis and application of relevant materials is required both by the assignment and the examination
Subject Specific Skills	See learning outcomes
Team work	No

Course Delivery

Assessment

Learning Outcomes

Content

Module Skills

Reading List

Notes